The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 379 It’s over
On the eleventh day of the tenth month of the twenty-fourth year of the Jiajing reign.

The sun sets in the west.

The light pierced through the clouds, turning crimson through scattering, and fell to the ground through the ruins on both sides of the sky street, mingling with the crimson liquid on the ground.

Suddenly, something moved in the ruins.

There were faint voices.

"Commander Li, there's probably a wall pressing down on it from above; I can't push it open."

"Let me do it."

A rustling sound came from the ruins, like countless insects gnawing on something hard. Moments later, several collapsed beams crashed down.

Cao Hanyan used her strength to pry open the cover of the secret passage. She first peeked out and scanned the surroundings to make sure there was no danger before jumping out of the passage and pulling Xiao Si up with her.

The two headed towards the palace to the east.

After walking for a while, Cao Hanyan stopped in her tracks.

Xiao Si turned to look at him and saw that his eyes were wide open, his mouth was agape, and his finger was trembling as he pointed to the eastern sky.

"Commander Li, this...this...this..."

Xiao Si looked towards the east.

It was already late afternoon, the sun was setting in the west, and the east should have begun to darken, but it was now ablaze with red, faintly reflecting the setting sun in the west, as if the sun was also setting there.

But Xiao Si and Cao Hanyan both knew that it was fire.

To the due east is the palace.

Cao Hanyan only met Li Miao in August; before that, he had only been practicing martial arts and studying in his hometown. Even though he had seen many grand scenes with Li Miao, it was limited to the "jianghu" (martial arts world). He had never seen the entire imperial palace ablaze, not even the imperial palace before the capital was moved.

Xiao Si nodded nonchalantly.

"Oh, this is troublesome... After the ancestral graves, the commander's hometown has also been destroyed by the garrison commander."

"The commander is furious."

Having said that, he took a step forward.

Cao Hanyan was stunned for a long time before following after him.

After traveling for a while, the two suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves behind them, followed by an angry shout.

"Stop! Crouch down!"

The two turned around and saw a troop of cavalry charging towards them, their long swords already drawn, their eyes filled with hostility.

Cao Hanyan assumed they were subordinates of the four guarding eunuchs and was about to draw her sword when Xiao Si stopped her with a raised hand. She took out her Imperial Guard badge from her waist, held it up, and shouted.

"I am Li Xiaosi, a commander of the Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Whom do you serve?"

The lead cavalryman's expression changed. He sheathed his sword, dismounted, ran to Xiao Si, and bowed: "Zhou Xiang, commander of the Huai'an Guard, greets Commander Zhou. We have come to quell the rebellion after receiving a message from Commander You Zi'ang."

Xiao Si nodded: "Where is Commander You now?"

Zhou Xiang said, "They've gone to Yangzhou to mobilize troops; they should arrive by water tomorrow."

Xiao Si nodded: "Alright, Commander Zhou, do you know how serious this matter is?"

Zhou Xiang glanced at the blazing fire burning in the eastern palace and slowly nodded.

"know."

Snapped.

Xiao Si raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, startling him.

"Commander Zhou, I am a woman and I don't know martial arts. I rarely leave the capital and I'm not very familiar with the situation of the various garrisons... How far is your Huai'an Garrison from Nanjing?"

"Sixty...sixty li."

“It’s very close.” Xiao Si tilted his head and smiled.

"So, what do the four garrison eunuchs say and do on a daily basis? Does the Huai'an Guard hear anything about it? Why... haven't they reported it to the authorities?"

Zhou Xiang was sweating profusely and was about to cry out for justice when Xiao Si interrupted him.

“Commander Zhou, Nanjing is the secondary capital. If something like this happens, many, many people will die. So many that the Court of Judicial Review, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Ministry of Justice will not have time to investigate them all.”

"Whether someone is guilty or innocent depends solely on whether someone wants to frame or exonerate them."

Zhou Xiang was stunned for a moment, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration and knelt down with a thud. "Huai'an Guard is willing to be a lackey of the Thousand-Household Guard!"

"It wasn't me," Xiao Si said with a smile. "It was my family's military commander."

Zhou Xiang nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, yes! You're right!"

Xiao Si laughed and said, "Saving people, putting out fires, quelling rebellions, and shutting up—can the Huai'an Guard handle all that?"

"Yes, yes!"

"With the Yangzhou garrison arriving soon, will we be able to finish tomorrow?"

"can!"

"Then it's up to you. After you've done it well, come to the palace to see the garrison commander and receive your reward."

"Yes!"

Cao Hanyan watched helplessly as an insect crawled up Xiao Si's hand and into Zhou Xiang's collar. She turned her head away without saying a word.

Zhou Xiang led his troops away.

The two continued their journey toward the palace.

After walking for a while, they arrived outside the palace gate. Cao Hanyan frowned and saw several figures outside the gate in the distance, one of whom was waving his arm at him.

"Brother Cao—Brother Cao—"

Cao Hanyan walked quickly forward for a while and saw who those people were.

Gu Feixuan, Wang Hai, and Gao Anyu, who was jumping up and down excitedly greeting him.

As she approached, Cao Hanyan looked around and asked.

"What are you all doing here? Where is Senior Zheng? Where is the Garrison Commander?"

Just as Wang Hai was about to speak, Gao Anyu interrupted him.

"They're all in the palace! Aunt Zheng told us to wait here! She went to demolish some houses over there!"

"Demolish the house?" Cao Hanyan asked, puzzled.

Wang Hai took over the conversation.

"The fire is too big, and there is not enough time to put it out. Senior Zheng, go and demolish the houses near the palace to prevent the fire from spreading to the people's homes."

"She has already met with the garrison commander, and the matter is settled. However, there may still be celestial beings hiding inside. The garrison commander is killing them and told us to go see him later."

Cao Hanyan then understood and let out a long sigh of relief.

After waiting for about half an hour, Zheng Yi descended from the palace wall and said, "Let's go."

"It's all over."

She appeared to have no injuries, but her face looked extremely haggard, as if something heavy was weighing on her mind. She didn't even notice Gao Anyu jumping around beside her.

The group walked along the roads inside the palace.

The three main halls in the center of the palace, with the Huagai Hall in the middle, had been set ablaze by the Right Guard of the Valiant Cavalry, and the Fengtian Hall and Jinshen Hall were also engulfed in flames.

Cao Hanyan smelled the odor of burnt meat coming from the Huagai Hall. He exchanged a glance with Gu Feixuan, whose face was also pale, but said nothing.

After walking for a while, the group arrived at the square in front of the Fengtian Hall and stopped.

Hundreds... no, perhaps over a thousand corpses, along with armor and horse carcasses, covered the entire square. Blood flowed along the cracks in the bricks to the ground, pooling into a vast expanse of water.

The flames danced on the blood.

Gu Feixuan's face turned pale, his throat bobbed, and he quietly tugged at Cao Hanyan's sleeve.

"Brother Cao, this...this is the Garrison Commander..."

Cao Hanyan nodded.

Gu Feixuan quickly covered his mouth, almost blurting out the title "Deadly Town Governor".

The group crossed mountains of corpses and seas of blood, passed through the Wenlou Pavilion and the Wenhua Hall to the Chunhe Palace on the easternmost side of the palace city, which was also the only palace that was not affected by the fire.

Upon entering the palace, they finally met Li Miao.

And several figures kneeling in front of Li Miao.

(End of this chapter)